Tennis: Young guns lift British hopes

The unheralded pairing of Andrew Murray and David Sherwood earn a crucial advantage over Israel with a thrilling doubles victory

Rationality might decree that a rookie combination of a teenager still young enough to play in the juniors and an under-achiever so indolent that he was expelled from British tennis might not be the best choice in a crucial Davis Cup encounter in front of a crowd that cared nothing for the values of sportsmanship. But Andy Murray and David Sherwood magnificently proved that the rational option is not always the best one.

And if Greg Rusedski secures victory over Israel in the aptly named Canada stadium this morning and proves the international retirement of Tim Henman is far from terminal for Britain’s aspirations, he will still be applauding the two debutants as the true heroes.

The wisdom of British captain Jeremy Bates in resisting the temptation to bring Rusedski into the doubles against an Israeli duo ranked fifth in the world this year was widely questioned as Murray and